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"The Christianity of history is not Protestantism. If ever there were a safe truth it is this, and Protestantism has ever felt it so; to be deep in history is to cease to be a Protestant." (-John Henry Newman, An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine).

"Where the bishop is, there let the people gather; just as where ever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church".-St. Ignatius of Antioch (ca 110 AD)a martyr later thrown to the lions, wrote to a church in Asia Minor. Antioch was also where the term "Christian" was first used.

“But if I should be delayed, you should know how to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth.” 1 Timothy 3:15

"This is the sole Church of Christ, which in the Creed we profess to be one, holy, catholic and apostolic." -CCC 811

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Egypt to lift restrictions on building churches

An Egyptian soldier guards the Virgin Mary church in the Imbaba district of Cairo on May 10. Egypt's caretaker government said on Wednesday it will prepare a law within a month to ease restrictions on building churches while banning protests in front of places of worship, after attacks on Cairo churches.(AFP/File/Khaled Desouki)

CAIRO (AFP) - Egypt's caretaker government said on Wednesday it will prepare a law within a month to ease restrictions on building churches while banning protests in front of places of worship, after attacks on Cairo churches.

Formed after 15 people died when a Muslim mob attacked two Cairo churches on Saturday, the cabinet's justice committee said in a statement that it would "decisively stand against incitement to hatred and sectarianism."

The committee was tasked with "studying the project of unifying laws for the construction of places of worship, to be completed within 30 days."

It also decided to "ban demonstrations and gatherings outside places of worship," said the statement posted on the cabinet's website.

Under a law dating back to Ottoman times, Christians are required to seek the ruler's permission before building churches. They also have to obtain permission to renovate or repair churches.

The decision is usually delegated to governors, who often consulted security services on the possible reaction of Muslim residents to having a church in their midst.

Building churches has sometimes led to sectarian clashes with Muslims. But Saturday's violence began after Muslims surrounded a church in the poor district of Imbaba, claiming a Muslim convert was being held inside.

The statement also said the government would enforce a ban on using religious slogans in elections.

The country is set to vote in September in its first parliamentary election since the overthrow of president Hosni Mubarak in February.

Islamist groups such the formerly banned Muslim Brotherhood movement, which has established a new party, say they are forming an alliance to contest the election.

The increasing assertiveness of Salafist fundamentalists in particular has been blamed for stoking religious tensions leading to Saturday's attacks.

The country's human rights council said in a report on Wednesday that men dressed as Salafists were present in the mob and partly blamed "the intensification of extremist religious interpretations that propose rearranging Egyptian society to exclude Christians" for the attacks.

The National Council for Human Rights also said the attacks were possible due to the security vacuum in the country since anti-Mubarak protesters torched police stations on January 28, leading Mubarak to call in the military.

The military, which now rules the country, has pledged to come down hard on sectarian violence, but it is not experienced in crowd control.

"The army is not trained to control the street. The police is necessary," council member Hafez Abu Saada said.

The report also blamed decades of sectarian unease between Muslims and Copts, who make up about ten percent of the country's population of 80 million.

They complain of state-sanctioned discrimination, such as the law on building churches, and have been the targets of fairly regular attacks.

At least a dozen people were killed in March when Muslims clashed with Christians in another Cairo district, after the Copts staged a protest against the torching of a church a few days earlier.

In January, a suicide bomber killed more than 20 people outside a church in the coastal city of Alexandria.

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266th Pope of the Church

PRAYER FOR POPE FRANCIS

Lord, source of eternal life and truth,You have looked with mercy upon your servant Francis and called him to follow you.

Give him a spirit of courage and right judgement, and a spirit of knowledge and love.

By governing with fidelity those entrusted to his care, may he, as successor to the apostle Peter, Servant of the Servants of God, Bishop of Rome, son of Ignatius of Loyola and disciple of Francis of Assisi, build Your church into a sacrament of unity, love, mercy and peace for all the world.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

About the BIBLE

"As Catholics were responsible for writing the New Testament (under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit), the Catholic Church doesn't "interpret" the Bible. We explain it. Protestants can only "interpret", because they are not the author (guided by the Holy Spirit), and therefore, can only guess at the possible meaning of a chapter, passage or phrase, just as anyone can only guess at any author's intentions in any other book. As the author, the Catholic Church is the only proper authority to consult in matters pertaining to the Bible." -Catholic Truth

The Original Names of the 12 Apostles

It’s one of those first things that you memorize in 2nd grade or in religious education: the names of the 12 Apostles of Jesus. We’ve all heard their names in Scripture and in prayers countless times. Also, they are probably some of the most commonly given names in the world! But Jesus would not have called them John or Thomas or Andrew or Peter, etc… those are all Anglicized version of the names of the Apostles. The English language didn't even exist at the time of the Apostles!

So what would their names have sounded like when spoken by Our Lord and what did those names mean? Here are the original forms of the names of the 12 Apostles and their meanings:

Peter The name Peter is derived, via Latin "petra", from the Greek word πέτρος (petros) meaning "stone" or "rock". According to the New Testament, Jesus gave Saint Peter (whose given name was Simon) the name Kephas or Cephas meaning "stone" in Aramaic.

Andrew English form of the Greek name Ανδρεας (Andreas), which was derived from ανδρειος (andreios) "manly, masculine", a derivative of ανηρ (aner) "man".

James the Greater & James The Lesser English form of the Late Latin name Iacomus which was derived from Ιακωβος (Iakobos), the New Testament Greek form of the Hebrew name Ya'aqov. The name comes from the Old Testament figure, Jacob (later called Israel) who was born holding his twin brother Esau's heel, and his name is explained as meaning "holder of the heel" or "supplanter", because he twice deprived his brother of his rights as the firstborn son (see Genesis 27:36).

John English form of Iohannes, the Latin form of the Greek name Ιωαννης (Ioannes), itself derived from the Hebrew name יוֹחָנָן (Yochanan) meaning "YAHWEH is gracious".

Philip From the Greek name Φιλιππος (Philippos) which means "friend of horses", composed of the elements φιλος (philos) "friend, lover" and ‘ιππος(hippos) "horse"

Bartholomew From Βαρθολομαιος (Bartholomaios), which was the Greek form of an Aramaic name meaning "son of TALMAI".

Matthew English form of Ματθαιος (Matthaios), which was a Greek form of the Hebrew name מַתִּתְיָהוּ (Mattityahu) meaning "gift of YAHWEH".

Thomas Greek form of the Aramaic name תָּאוֹמָא (Ta'oma') which meant "twin". (Apparently Thomas looked very much like Our Lord).

Jude (Thaddeus) & Judas Iscariot From the Hebrew יְהוּדָה (Yehudah) which meant "praised". From Ιουδας (Ioudas), the Greek form of JUDAH.

Simon The Zealot From Σιμων (Simon), the New Testament Greek form of the Hebrew name שִׁמְעוֹן (Shim'on) which meant "he has heard". This name is spelled Simeon, based on Greek Συμεων, in many translations of the Old Testament